Today is the second annual World Wildlife Day! Around the world, wildlife trafficking is a growing crisis and is threatening the existence of pangolins, elephants, rhinos and other wildlife. The U.S. government is committed to reducing wildlife trafficking and is taking action through President Barack Obama’s National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking and the recent…

The defining challenge for American leadership in the world can perhaps be summed up by one word, balance. It is the overriding consideration on every big global issue confronting us as we weigh the merits of our response and the course of action we take. Nowhere is this more true than on issues related to…

Both the U.S. and the UK have been very involved in the fight against Ebola. And we’re all very relieved to see the decline in the number of new cases. So here’s some more great news from the White House Blog: Progress in the Battle Against Ebola Since the first cases of the current Ebola…

I lived in Alaska for seven years growing up and worked in the Antarctic off and on for the better part of a decade, so I’m well acquainted with permafrost or permanently frozen soil. Mostly I remember that it makes digging really difficult. But just like ice cores, it can hold all kinds of information…

Why do I find tunnels fascinating? Is it because I remember digging through stuff as a little boy? Or perhaps that I take the tube into work every day? In any case, we just want to salute the 1,000-tonne tunneling machine nicknamed Elizabeth, which just broke through to the Liverpool Street Crossrail station 40 meters…

The answer is not obvious, but they can. Early this week I went to a fascinating demonstration in the UK Parliament of how UK satellites have developed a Virtual Watch Room (Infographic on left, also available as a PDF), which allows people to scan for suspicious fishing vessels and help stop illegal fishing. These systems…

Those of us in First World countries often take for granted the fact that we have clean water to drink, functioning sewers and reliable water supplies. But that’s obviously not the case everywhere. The U.S. knows that having access to these basic survival needs is a priority for governments and the focus of foreign policies…

It’s one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built, and a prime example of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Launched in 1990, it was originally designed to last 15 years. Ten years after the end of its predicted lifespan, the Hubble Space Telescope continues to send back images of faraway…

Here’s a great article by Laura Niles at the International Space Station Program Science Office. “Twin minds think alike” is not a common phrase in the public dialogue, but in the case of twin astronauts, it may someday become one. In a spark of astronaut, and possibly familial, curiosity, twin NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly initiated…

The COP-20 in Lima, Peru, concluded on December 12 and was attending by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry along with other influential world leaders. Secretary Kerry had this to say about the event: “I touched down in Lima, Peru, today for the international climate change conference for a simple reason: There is a time…